Gall Force - Resurrection
by RocketManLen
Summary: A random encounter brings the possibility of a second chance - but will Eluza be up for the challenge?
1. Recovery

**Recovery**

The gaps between the stars may be vast, but they are not uneventful. If you look long enough, you will find pockets of gases left over from both the formation of nearby systems... or from their deaths. Occasionally they will flash with lightning, as charges built up from the myriad dust particles rubbing against one another naturally seek their balance before starting over again. Rogue planets sometimes pass through these clouds and siphon some off to become part of their atmospheres. Asteroids of various shapes and sizes drift in every direction – tumbling lazily on their eons-long journeys from star to star.

But artifacts are rare.

So rare that they tend to capture the attention of any traveller who happens to come across one...

* * *

Erica stretched her arms above her head and yawned. As her joints popped from the motion, she heard the door behind her slide open with a hiss. "Derek, hi," she said when she saw who it was that walked towards her. "You're early."

"I know I am, little sis," he replied with a smile, "but you've been here for six hours... so I figured you could use some cafa and company."

She took the mug from his outstretched hand and blew on the steaming liquid to cool it to her taste. "Has it really been six hours?" she asked as she enjoyed her drink. "I guess I lost track of time."

"I guess you did - AGAIN," he teased. "I swear – if you focused more on the scanners instead of the windows, you'd be done in half the time."

"I can't help it," she countered. "Just look at that VIEW!" She pointed to the three stars that stood out among all the others – two main-sequence types and a dull orange dwarf that sat much closer to their survey ship. "The scanners can tell me everything I need to know about this triple-system... how they orbit around each other, how their magnetic fields interact, even where the major planets are. But they can't tell me how beautiful it is, or how the light flashes when one star passes in front of the other, or..."

Her reverie ended abruptly when her console pinged for attention. "That's a proximity alarm," Derek stated as he slid into the seat beside her and touched a key to let the computer know that he was paying attention. An image appeared in front of him, and he read the information it gave him. "Apparently, there's an object heading toward the system, and we're in its' path. Low-speed, danger of impact damage zero."

"So why tell us," Erica wondered. "The automatics could have handled it without needing to let us know."

"Because it's made of Rotal alloy," Derek explained. "Refined metals dictate a closer examination – it could be a probe that needs maintenance, after all."

"I know, I know," Erica sighed. "The job comes first. I'll open up the receiving bay and tractor it in. Since you're our resident engineer, you may as well go down and see what it needs. I'll monitor from here in case you get yourself into trouble again... maybe I should alert Medical now, and avoid the rush?" She winked as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"One little accident with a phase-synchronizer, and I never hear the end of it," Derek cursed under his breath as he headed towards the door, Erica giggling behind him.

* * *

Derek watched as Erica brought the object into the cargo bay. He might occasionally tease her about her wistful nature, but he had to admit that she was an artist when it came to operating the tractor beams. She guided it slowly through the open hatch, and set it down without a sound. Derek moved in to examine the object while Erica kept an eye on him through the monitors.

"So what is it?" she asked through the image she projected into the bay beside Derek.

"It's not a probe, that's for sure," Derek admitted. "Looks to be a storage tank of some kind – roughly cylindrical, twenty-two hundred millimetres in length and eight hundred millimetres in diameter." He ran his hand over the rough and pitted surface. "It's been out there for a long time... centuries maybe. If there were any identifying marks on it, they've been sandblasted off by interstellar dust."

"I did a course projection," she told him. "But I can't determine an origin-point. If it's a storage canister, then it could have been jettisoned by another ship anywhere along the way. Continuing forward, it would have passed by this system and headed for the star system nearest to this one – a yellow main-sequence star with eight major planets, including one habitable one. Funny... the computer has that system listed as a Red-Zone."

 _Red-Zone_ \- Derek thought – _no entry under ANY circumstances_. "Something for you to look into later, I'm thinking," he said. "For the moment, let's see what we can figure out about what this is." He walked over to a wall-panel and pushed one side inwards slightly. It opened with a click and he picked up a small device from a shelf. Walking back to the canister, he knelt beside it and waved the device over it. "Seems pretty typical," he said, "Rotal alloy shell, embedded dust fragments from spending so much time in space. Welded seams, so they didn't know anything about trans-molecular bonding. No hinges or latches, so it wasn't meant to be opened. HEL-lo!"

The startled exclamation caught Ericas' attention. "What is it?"

"There's an organic mass inside," Derek said. "Eighteen hundred millimetres in length, massing about eighty kilos." He went back to the panel and removed a breathing mask and another device. "I want you to seal the bay as a precaution, I'm going to cut it open with the molecular separator."

"Be careful, Derek," Erica warned him. "it might be dangerous."

"That's why you're going to seal the bay," Derek reminded her. "The scan says the mass is inert, but you'll seal the doors and open the main hatch to space anyway. If something goes wrong, you drop the air-containment field and pick me up later, got it?"

"Got it," she said as she activated the program sequences that would perform the tasks her brother had requested. "Bay is sealed, you can start whenever you're ready."

Derek touched the device in his hand to the side of the canister and pressed a button. A yellow glow appeared at the tip as it emitted a faint hum. He slowly traced a line around the length of the container, leaving a gap in the metal as he went. Within moments he had moved completely around the object, slicing it neatly in half. He deactivated the separator and replaced it on the shelf he had taken it from, returning with the scanner instead. "No hazardous materials released," he noted in order to ease his sisters' concerns. "I'm going to lift off the top half now." He went to the tractor-beam controls and watched intently as the upper half of the cylinder rose, shifted to the side, and settled onto the deck with a hollow ring that reminded him that he needed more practice with controlling the beams. He walked closer and peered at the now-exposed contents of the container.

She wore a black-and-white jumpsuit with an emblem shaped like a three-coloured inverted triangle below the left shoulder. Her red/pink hair was combed back towards her neck. Her arms had been crossed over her chest ritualistically. Derek didn't see any sign of decay or frost, she had been well-preserved and protected.

"Ummm... Erica? Remember when I said that I wouldn't be needing the services of Medical?"

"Eeee-yes...?" she answered.

"I was wrong. Get them here – right now!"


	2. Revival

**Revival**

Derek and Erica watched as the ships' doctor gently lowered the mysterious redhead into one of the treatment chambers and closed the lid. Indicators lit up immediately as the chamber automatically performed a scan. "What's the prognosis, doc?" Erica asked nervously.

"I'd say that there's a good chance she can be resuscitated – she's in quite good condition," replied the doctor as she brushed a wisp of lavender hair away from her eyes. "There was something that looked like a tumour in her lower abdomen, but it's been de-atomized already. I'm warming her up slowly, and I'll start a miralon infusion when her temperature reaches normal. Neural revitalization and rehabilitation will follow, once she's stabilized."

"Any guesses for a time-frame?" wondered Derek aloud.

"I'd say eight hours, ten on the outside, and she'll come around naturally. I don't foresee any complications stemming from the procedure, so you two can get some rest yourselves." Derek started to object, so she spun him around and pushed both of them towards the door. "OUT! I'll let you know if anything develops." She winked and waved at the pair as the door slid closed behind them. Once she was confident that they wouldn't return, she turned back to the treatment chamber while her expression changed to one of grief. "So you're one of them," she whispered as she gently placed a hand on the cover of the chamber, "I am so, SO sorry..."

As they walked down the corridor, Erica turned to look at Derek with a bemused expression. "Okay," she said, "Out with it."

"Out with what?" Derek asked, puzzled.

"Don't give me that! I've seen that look on your face before – you have the hots for the dead girl, don't you?" She poked him in the side for emphasis.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Derek protested as he rubbed the spot where Erica had jabbed him. "I'm just curious, is all. Why would she have been left like that? Where would she have been from, that her own medics couldn't help? What was she doing here in the first place?"

"Uh-huh," Erica smirked, "totally smitten."

"Oh, be quiet," Derek scolded her as he took a quick glance back down the corridor. "Maybe I could do something to help the doc..." he started.

"OH, no you don't!" Erica scolded him. "Doctor C told us to stay out of Medical for at least ten hours, and that's what we're going to do! If you're not going to take her advice and get some rest, then maybe you can continue my observations of this system."

"Mapping magnetic anomalies at the stellar bow-shock? No thank you! I think I'll head back down to the receiving bay, and see if I can get an accurate estimate on how long our new friend has been out in space. That might give us a hint at where she's from, at least."

Erica could tell that she was fighting a losing battle. "Okay, fine. I'm going to get some sleep. Don't you DARE go anywhere near Medical for the next ten hours."

"Okay, Mom..." Derek said with a sigh, so Erica elbowed him in the ribs.

* * *

Nine hours and fifty-five minutes later, Derek stood outside the door to the Medical bay and wondered whether or not he should go in. The time he had spent examining the pod had resulted in more questions than answers – he had managed to tease out some markings from beneath all of the damage from the constant micro-impacts that would happen to an unshielded object drifting through deep space, but they didn't make a lot of sense. He understood that languages change over time, but...

He jumped as the door in front of him slid open to reveal the doctor on her way out. "Oh, Derek, there you are," she said, "I was about to call you."

"You... you were?" Derek stammered. "Then she's...?"

"Alive and well. I was going to move her from the treatment chamber into one of our spare quarters until she wakes up – perhaps you could help me with that?" She pointed to a hovering transport platform that their guest was already resting on.

"Sure thing," Derek agreed as he rushed to grip the control handle. "Lead the way," he said.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach their destination – a fair-sized room that contained a bed, a desk with a built-in computer terminal, and two chairs. Derek lowered the platform to match the level of the bed, and the two of them lifted their unconscious cargo over and onto the mattress... the doctor lowering her head carefully onto the pillow. "Now, all I have to do is set the computer to monitor her vitals and alert me when she wakes up..."

"Can I stay?" blurted Derek. "I can keep an eye on her for you, and I can use the terminal here to keep track of everything that I have to worry about aboard ship."

"I don't know," she objected. "It's not exactly standard procedure..." she saw the look on his face and hesitated. "Oh, all right. Just this once, and don't breathe a WORD of this to your sister!"

Derek beamed at her. "Thanks, doc! You're the best! I'll let you know as soon as she comes to!"

As Derek dropped himself into a chair in front of the computer desk and began typing away eagerly, the doctor backed out of the room. The door slid closed, and she closed her eyes and shook her head. "Kids," she muttered under her breath, "the way they behave at times, you'd never guess that they were thirty years old."

She whistled softly as she pushed the platform back to the Medical section.

* * *

Derek watched the results of his search scroll by on the screen projected in front of him.

The odd differences between the markings on the canister and the language he was accustomed to had been bothering him ever since he had managed to uncover them, so he asked the computer to look through the ancient-languages archive to try and find a match. So far, however, it could find nothing that came close to the variations he was looking for. Frustrated, he waved the projection away and sat back in the chair.

Lost in thought, he didn't notice when the unconscious form on the bed started to twitch her arms and legs. Imperceptibly at first, her movements began to take on an intensity that made it seem as though she was fighting off something that nobody else could see. It wasn't until she started to moan that Derek turned around and saw her frantic thrashing. He touched a button on the desk to summon the doctor, and then stood up and walked over to the bed.

As he got closer, what he thought was simple moaning became loud enough for him to make out the words she was mumbling. "No... won't... let me go..."

Thinking that he should try and calm her down, Derek bent down to place his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "It's okay, there's nothing here that will harm..."

The moment his hand made contact, her eyes shot open. She jumped off the bed with a look of sheer terror on her face as she shrieked.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"


	3. Reawakening

**Reawakening**

 _I guess it really is true what they say, your life really DOES flash before your eyes..._

She didn't know where that thought came from, but it was the first clear thing that came to her as she remembered her entire life in an apparently disjointed series of slow-motion jumps.

 _Introductions to the freshman class at the Academy. "One day, I want to command a battleship."_

" _Eluza, don't die!" wailed the yellow-haired girl as tears streamed down her face._

" _Congratulations on winning the award for excellence in combat tactics," her second-year instructor said with a smile as she presented the plaque to her._

" _Eluza, what happened?" asked the orange-haired girl in the open spacesuit._

" _Thank you for the promotion, Captain," she said with a smile as she saluted the older woman, "I look forward to serving as your second-in-command."_

" _I can't find anything WRONG with her, but her pulse and temperature are still falling!" cried the dark-skinned adolescent._

Unaware, she shook her head. "No..." she whispered.

" _I know what they're trying to do," she said as she turned her head to look at her shipmates._

" _Eluza! Eluza, no!" cried the yellow-haired girl again._

" _I won't let them. I refuse..."_

"Won't..."

" _What do you mean – you won't let them do what?"_

 _She floated within a bubble of horrible greenish liquid. She kicked at it frantically, trying to fight it off. Her screams did nothing but admit the monster into her lungs. She felt stabbing pain as something pierced the skin below her navel, and she blacked out._

"Let me go..."

 _She walked, weapon in hand, down the corridor until she came upon a closed security door. "Catty – situation report," she asked over the communicator she wore like a headset. "Nothing so far – dead end," came the reply. She asked herself where it could have gone when she noticed that the walls of the corridor were shifting. She raised her weapon to fire, failing to notice the floor reaching up to wrap around her legs..._

" _ELUZAAAAAAAAA!"_

Something touched her shoulder, and her eyes shot open. Unable to focus, all she saw was a brown-and-white blob before her. She leapt sideways to evade the threat, and cried "GET AWAY FROM ME!" as loud as she could.

The thing she faced made no aggressive move towards her, much to her surprise. It extended what, to her unfocused eyes, appeared to be a pair of grey tentacles as it spoke to her is calm tones. "I'm not going to hurt you," it said, "I only want to help. Please relax – everything will be all right."

Eluza blinked twice as her vision started to clear. She saw that the creature in front of her looked similar to herself, but was bulkier and not at all like the monster she had seen before. "Stay away from me," she warned it, "Don't come any closer."

"I won't," it said, "I promise that you're not in any danger. You're quite safe here."

"Safe?" she echoed. "Not safe. Never safe. Have to fight it. Have to..."

At that moment, the door slid open and another blurry creature stepped into the room. Sensing an opening, Eluza launched herself towards the doorway – she would force herself past this new intruder and find a way to escape.

Her leap was cut short when the first creature jumped into her path and wrapped its limbs around her, preventing her from reaching the door and freedom. Panicked, she struggled to break free of its grip, but she lacked the strength. She closed her eyes and roared her frustration.

She opened her eyes and found that her vision had finally cleared. She looked at the black-haired, blue-eyed creature that had her pinned, then she looked at the other one. She stared at the familiar lavender hair and golden eyes as she gasped for breath.

"Catty?" she moaned. "Catty, help me."

Her strength gone, Eluzas' eyes closed and her head fell forward.

* * *

Derek dragged the again-unconscious girl back to the bed and eased her back down. When he saw that she was comfortable and breathing regularly, he straightened up and turned to the doctor he had known for so long, confusion apparent on his face.

"Okay, what was THAT all about?" he asked.

"I, ummm, I don't know...?" Catty replied half-heartedly.

"Don't give me that!" he countered. "She RECOGNIZED you! Called you by NAME! How can you not know what's going on?"

Catty sighed – she realized that she was cornered. "All right, I suppose you deserve an explanation. But it's something I should tell all of you at the same time, so it'll have to wait until this one is awake again. I'll stay here until she wakes up while you go and get some rest. When she comes around, I'll call you and Erica and you'll get the whole story. Deal?"

"Deal. I'll be waiting for your call." Derek told her as he left the room.

* * *

Eluza groaned as she lifted a hand to massage her forehead. She opened her eyes and turned her head to see Catty looking at her intently.

"Oh, good," Catty said, "You're awake. Are you feeling better now?"

Eluza nodded slowly. "What happened? Why do I feel so strange?"

Catty looked at her sadly. "That's my fault, I'm afraid," she apologized. "I had to give you a fairly large dose of miralon to revive you, and you had a reaction to it that resulted in paranoia and violent outbursts. Now that it's cleared from your system, you ought to be feeling more rational." She lifted the noteboard that had been sitting in her lap and pulled a stylus from one side. "Could you tell me your name?"

Eluza looked at her curiously. "Don't you already know my name?"

"Humour me," Catty said with a grin. "If you like, think if this as a test to see how much of your memory you've managed to retain."

"All right," Eluza said as she shifted herself upright so her back rested against the wall. "My name is Eluza Fortina. I hold the rank of Commander, attached to the Twenty-Eighth Battle Fleet of the Solnoid Space Forces, Akon Kagu'ya Group. Second in command of the battle cruiser _Star Leaf_." She paused to look at her surroundings for a moment. "Speaking of – this isn't the Medical room of the _Star Leaf_... and you said that you 'revived' me. Where are we, and what is going on?"

Catty stood and placed the noteboard on her chair. "I think it's time we got the others in on this," she said. "I'll call for them to meet us in the lounge on Deck Three – it'll be more comfortable for all of us that way."

Eluza thought about this for a moment, then swung her feet to the floor and stood. "All right – let's go," she said. "This is a story I really want to hear."


	4. Recollection

**Recollection**

Derek and Erica were already seated when Catty and Eluza entered the lounge. Eluza took a moment to gape at the size – it was unlike anything she was accustomed to. _If this is a LOUNGE_ , she asked herself, _what is the REST of the ship like?_ A wave from Catty shook her out of her reverie, and she settled into one of the most comfortable chairs she had ever experienced.

"I suppose that introductions should be taken care of first," Catty offered as she looked at the other three. "Eluza," she said as she extended her arm at the others, "meet Erica Newman – pilot, navigator, cartographer, and botanist... to name a few. This is her brother Derek – engineer, linguist, first-contact specialist, and part-time archaeologist. Derek, Erica, this is Eluza Fortina – formerly of the Twenty-Eighth Solnoid Battle Group."

Derek slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Solnoid – of COURSE! I can't believe I didn't recognize the writing on the capsule! I feel like an idiot!"

"You should," Erica said with a smirk. She turned to Eluza and extended her hand. "Welcome to the explorer ship _Starfarer_ ," she offered.

Eluza took her hand warily. "Thanks... I think," she replied. Her brow furrowed for a moment, then she turned to Derek. "It's obvious that you're not a Solnoid," she said, "and since this is your sister, she can't be one either. You're also obviously not of the Paranoid race, so what exactly are you?"

Catty answered before the others could speak. "They're called Solnarians. Do you recall any of the Solnoid origin myths?" She waited until Eluza shook her head. "Well... let's just say that they're a distant relative of the Solnoid people and leave it for the moment, shall we? There's still a lot of ground that we have to cover, now that you've been revived."

"You mentioned that before," Eluza told her. "What do you mean, 'revived'? The last thing I remember was lying in the Medical bay of the _Star Leaf_ – the others were treating me after I was attacked by that Paranoid monster, and..." She couldn't continue, because she was starting to figure out what was going on.

"There's no easy way to put this," Catty replied sadly, "but... what happened to you was untreatable by anyone at the time. Your shipmates must have jettisoned your body in a storage capsule - which we found adrift, recovered, and restored you."

 _I died_ – Eluza realized. _That monster killed me_. "How long?" she asked.

"It's difficult to figure," Derek admitted. "Without knowing how fast you were travelling when the capsule was ejected, I could only make a rough guess at the rate of erosion on..."

"HOW LONG?"

Unable to look her in the eyes, Derek answered with a sigh. "Best guess, somewhere between eight hundred and one thousand standard years." His eyes lowered, Derek didn't see Cattys' brow lift in confusion at his statement.

 _Eight hundred YEARS?_ "That doesn't make any sense," Eluza said in an accusing tone as she turned her gaze to Catty. "If that's true, then how are YOU here? You were aboard the _Star Leaf_ with the rest of us, so how can you be alive after all that time?"

Derek and Erica looked at each other, their puzzled expressions obvious. "You mean, you didn't know she's a synthetic?" Erica asked.

"She's a WHAT?"

"An android," Catty corrected. "I'm actually not the one that was aboard your ship, but another of the ten thousand that were scattered throughout the fleets. We were created to be observers and liaisons for the Species Unification Plan. I'm the only one to survive the War."

"Species Unifi... what?" Eluza shook her head as her thoughts tried to run in a dozen different directions. "The War! What happened? Did we win? Is Chaos safe? Did Rabby and the others accomplish the mission?"

Catty looked at her glumly. "Chaos was destroyed. I can't give you any details, because I don't have any to give. All I know is that it's now lifeless. As to the War – it's over, but neither side won."

"That's ridiculous," Eluza fired back. "There HAD to be a winner! How can there not... no..." Her voice trailed off as the realization came to her.

"The Final Battle was terrible," Catty explained to Eluza, who had been shocked into silence. "Both sides took everything that remained of their fleets and threw them at each other. But in the end, they only succeeded in wiping each other out completely. I, and a few others, were all that survived. For all intents and purposes, both the Paranoid and the Solnoid races are extinct."

Eluzas' eyes widened as Catty told her story. She had always expected that the War would inevitably lead to victory for her people, despite the losses they had to endure. Now, listening to the last survivor of the war, all of her hopes seemed to shatter like glass. "Nothing left," she whispered, "nothing at all? That's not right... it can't be right. It can't be all gone."

"But it's NOT all gone," Catty tried to reassure her. "You're here, and we created our successors and left them on Terra to continue on after us. We..."

"But it's NOT US!" Eluza shouted as she jumped out of her seat, cutting Catty off. "Don't you UNDERSTAND? Chaos was our last hope for a future – and you're telling me that it's GONE?"

"But hope for the future is never gone," Derek offered as he stood and walked towards her. "If you'll just take a moment to consider what we have to..."

Eluza whirled as her right hand balled into a fist and struck Derek on the side of his face, knocking him to the floor. Both Erica and Catty went to help him up as Eluza shivered with rage.

"Why couldn't you let me STAY dead?" She cried as she ran for the door.

Erica pulled Derek to his feet with a grunt. "THAT went well," she muttered.

"Not quite what I expected, either," said Derek as he rubbed his throbbing chin.

"It's a lot to take in," Catty told them. "What she's been though can be overwhelming, but I don't think that she's the type to break because of it. Just give her some time to figure things out."

"Time," Derek began to mutter. "Time... time... timing... GOT IT! I know what I did wrong!" He started for the door as well.

Erica caught him by the arm before he could get too far. "Now, you're NOT going to bother her for a while – RIGHT?" She tightened her grip for emphasis.

Derek winced under both her iron grip and her withering glare. "Of course not. I just realized that I made a mistake, and need to go check something. I won't say anything to her until she's had a chance to calm down – happy?"

"Ecstatic," she replied as her grip relaxed and allowed Derek to sprint out the door and down the corridor. Sighing, she looked at Catty. "Do you really think she'll be okay?"

"One thing about the Solnoid people that never changes," Catty explained to her, "is their ability to take a blow and come back stronger than ever. Once she's had a chance to think things through, I'm certain that she'll be able to accept her new life."

Erica turned to look at the door her brother had just gone through.

"I hope you're right..."


	5. Realization

**Realization**

Eluza sat on the edge of her bed and sobbed quietly.

After leaving the lounge, she had wandered the corridors of the ship to think. She hoped to find something familiar to her, something she could use as an anchor to give herself a point to continue from... but the ship turned out to be so different from anything she was accustomed to that her search had been futile. In the end, she just returned to the room she had awoken in and buried her face in her hands.

 _Everything I held dear is gone_ , she hated the thought, _how can I go on in the face of that?_ She knew what she should do, what she was trained to do. When Rabby had told her that she couldn't contact the Captain aboard the _Akon Kagu'ya_ , she had taken charge in her absence and rallied her troops to do their jobs. She knew that, in her own absence, Rabby would do the same with the crew that remained. She had shown them how to find the strength to carry on, even in the face of their own destruction.

 _But how do I do that for myself?_

The sound of the door opening caused her to jump. She turned to see Derek standing in the corridor. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Wiping the tears from her face, she glared at him. "What do you want?" she growled at him.

"Forgive the intrusion," he apologized as he stepped into the room, "but I thought that I should let you know what I found. After hearing what you said in the lounge, I went back and looked over some of the records that we have on the Solnoid War. I found entries for the _Star Leaf_ , and recalculated how long you've been in space. It turns out that I forgot to take into account how something transiting from Lightspeed travel into normal space would be damaged by dust far more severely than something moving slower. Going by what we have on your mission, it works out to about two hundred years." He smiled as he made the announcement.

Eluza folded her arms over her chest, keeping her hard look. "Is that supposed to make me feel BETTER?" she asked him, sarcasm dripping from the words. "Knowing that my people have been extinct for less than a QUARTER of what you first told me?"

Dereks' smile vanished instantly. "You're right," he admitted, "when you put it that way, I guess it's not very encouraging. I'm sorry."

Eluza sighed and looked at him, managing to put a slight smile on her face as she did. "Not your fault," she admitted. "It's just that... everything I knew and cared about – my friends, my shipmates, my entire race – everything I fought so hard to protect is gone. For the first time in my life, I'm unsure of what I should do." She rubbed at her eyes to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall. "Look at me," she said with a sniff, "Years of Command School, working my way through the ranks, second in command of a battle cruiser... and here I am, finding out that none of it MEANT anything. I don't know if I can..."

Derek cut her off by placing a hand on her shoulder. "There's something else that I think you should see," he said as he pulled a small crystal from his pocket. "I found this message when I was going through the old records that had any connection to Solnoids and the War." He took her hand and dropped the crystal into her open palm, closing her fingers around it. "Just place the crystal in the socket there," he pointed to a corner of the desk as he explained, "and it'll play automatically." He turned and walked towards the door. It slid open and he started to step through, but stopped and turned back to say, "I hope it helps. If you want to talk, my door is always open... just ask the computer where I am." Then he stepped into the corridor and the door slid closed behind him.

Eluza stared at the closed door for a few moments before lowering her eyes and opening her hand to look at the crystal that Derek had left with her. She ran a thumb along one of its edges, pondering whether or not she dared to listen to the message she was told it contains. Unable to contain her curiosity, she walked over to the desk and set the crystal the way she had been instructed. It began to glow from within, and she jumped backwards as a ghostly image formed beside her. The image became clear, and Eluza stood face-to-face with Catty again.

She quickly realized, however, that this wasn't the Catty that she knew. Slightly taller than herself, this one had longer hair that fell forward below her shoulders and was slightly grey. Her golden eyes were dulled by the weight of years, but she spoke with a combination of grief and wisdom that made Eluza pay attention.

"I'm making this recording," the image began, "in the hope that there may be more like me – remnants of the Final War between the Paranoid and Solnoid races. I realize that it's a slim hope, since only myself and four others were rescued from the battlefield, but perhaps some distant outpost or ship managed to escape the devastation."

"So... whoever you are - hello. My name is Catty Nebulart. I was the head of the Solnoid Intelligence Division, and I'm one of the last survivors of the Solnoid people. Like you, I fought against the Paranoids that were our enemy, until both sides came to the understanding that the War was destroying us. We had fought for centuries – ever since we first encountered each other – but some of us knew that neither race would survive if it continued. We tried to merge our two races into a third that would succeed us – but eventually realized that we were simply too different biologically for such a plan to work."

 _They knew it was hopeless?_ Eluza thought, _I was fighting a losing battle, even then?_

"It wasn't until the end that I learned that there was already a third race in existence. The people who saved me, as well as you, go by the name Solnarian. If you find the term familiar, there's a reason for it – their ancestors are the same people who created our race millions of years ago. We had thought them to be long extinct... until one of our battles happened to destroy a system that they had colonized, and one of them chose to try and put an end to the fighting."

 _Our ancestors? Our CREATORS? And they tried to HELP us?_

"Unfortunately, the attempt failed – so they decided to abandon this part of space until we chose to approach them for assistance. But our leaders were too stubborn to see where the fighting would lead. Despite all of this, however, we managed to attain two victories. On the planet Terra, in the Ninth Star System, our own successors are thriving. The leadership council of the Solnarian Federation has declared the Ninth System to be 'Off Limits' – it will be isolated from all contact until they develop a civilization capable of reaching space themselves. The second victory is a more subtle one, and it took me and my fellow survivors a while to realize it. I suspect that it will be a shock to you, just as it was a shock to me. In order to save you time and grief, I will simply tell you what it is, rather than let you agonize over it the way we did."

"Our successors on Terra, whatever they decide to call themselves, are also Solnarians. Just as I am, and just as YOU are. We are all connected by a thread that goes far into the distant past, and continues into the far future. Before I understood this, I felt just as lost as you must be feeling at this moment – alone, defeated, possibly the last of your kind. But that is simply not true. Standing before you is a glowing and vibrant society that spans galaxies. These people embody everything that the Solnoid aspired to be, and more."

"You can be a part of that society, if you choose to accept their offer. They won't force you, but I strongly urge you to do so. Everything that we, as a people, were looking for – they have in abundance and are willing to share. Do not let this opportunity for happiness pass you by... because one just like it will never come in your lifetime. And do not hesitate to turn to them – they are wise and compassionate, open and honest, and will freely provide anything you need. Learn from them, BE one of them, and you will never feel alone ever again."

"I hope that you will take my advice to heart, and make the right choice. And on behalf of the Solnarian people, let me be the first to welcome you among us." The image froze and began to fade as the recording ended, with Cattys' smiling face the last to disappear.

Eluza blinked as she struggled to absorb everything she had just heard. _Could it be true_ \- she wondered – _could what I've been fighting for, what so many died for, be waiting for me right here?_ Her own experiences since being revived led her to believe that it was, and she knew that it was something that she could now accept.

 _I don't have to mourn my people, because my people aren't gone. They're with me, right here. And now that I know that, I CAN go on._

With a newfound eagerness, she pulled the crystal out of the socket. She tossed it into the air and caught it with a smile, playing for the first time since she was a child. For one brief moment, she clutched the crystal with both hands and pressed it against her chest, closing her eyes and sighing.

 _Thank you, Catty Nebulart, for giving me EXACTLY what I needed..._

Opening her eyes, she strode to the door with newfound confidence and made her way down the corridor.

 _I know what I need to do first..._


	6. Relaxation

**Relaxation**

Making her way down the corridor, practically skipping with every step, Eluza took in the sights and sounds of the ship with a sense of wonder that she didn't have before. _So different from a battleship,_ she thought, _where everything was functional and necessary... so much here is personal and decorative._ She passed by colourful images – hand-painted and framed – of stars, planets, and landscapes that reminded her just how much time she has spent in space. She ran her fingers along some of them, feeling the rough yet silky texture of the pigments. She turned a corner, and saw the person she had been looking for. "Erica!" She called, "Do you have a minute?"

Erica stopped and turned to see who was calling her. Smiling broadly, she waved a greeting. "Hey there! Yeah, I was just on my way to get a drink... why don't you join me?"

The pair made their way to the Lounge, where Erica grabbed two glasses plus a bottle of translucent red-brown liquid and carried them over to cushioned seats near a large window that the small red star could be seen from. She poured some of the liquid into both glasses, then handed one glass to Eluza and dropped herself into one of the seats, tucking her feet beside her legs and motioning for her guest to do the same. "Telcarian brandy," she said as she raised her glass, "Best in the universe. I think you'll like it."

Eluza curled up in the seat and took a sip of her drink. The smoky flavour combined with the alcoholic bite and made her cough, but her second mouthful went down much easier. "Mmmm, that is good," she remarked, "thank you."

"Any time," Erica replied with a smile as she drank from her own glass, "I guess you're feeling better now...?"

"I am," Eluza replied as she pulled the crystal out of her pocket, "thanks to this recording that your brother Derek gave me."

Erica lowered her head and covered her face with her free hand as she groaned, "That's not some of his awful poetry or music, is it?"

"What? NO!" Eluza replied with a gasp, "It's a message from another survivor of the Solnoid War. It helped me see things more clearly, come to terms with the past, and start to look forward to the future." She swallowed some more of her brandy, and eyed Erica curiously. "Why would you think that he gave me poetry?"

"Derek is a hopeless romantic," Erica explained, "as well as painfully shy. It's his way of flirting, but he really isn't very good at it. He's embarrassed himself at more outposts, stations, and colonies than I can name... all because he doesn't know how to talk to girls that he's attracted to."

"But that still doesn't explain why... oh," Eluza stopped herself as she realized what Erica was implying.

"You're surprised?" Erica asked.

"A little, yes," Eluza admitted. "In Command School, it's something that we're taught to avoid, because it makes battlefield decisions that much more difficult. Relationships are tough, when you know that you may have to send your partner to die."

"Relationships are always tough," Erica told her, "but that doesn't mean you should give up on them altogether. Closing yourself off like that is no way to live. Trust me, it's worth the risk."

Eluza sighed into her glass. "You're right, I guess. But – Derek? I don't know if I could go that far. He's just so..."

"Alien?" Erica volunteered.

"Unconventional." Eluza corrected.

"Don't let a little thing like that stop you from going after something you want. You'll be amazed at the variety of experiences you can have, once you let go of your preconceptions of what 'normal' should be. Don't tell Derek I said this, but he's actually a great guy. He's bright, kind, funny in his own way, and loyal to a fault. If you decide to accept his affections, he'll follow you like a Marcalite Jarnix pup."

"A what?" Eluza asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Erica grinned sheepishly. "Whoops! Sorry about that. I suppose that one of the things we'll have to teach you about is metaphor."

"It's okay," Eluza said with a laugh, "I think I get the idea."

The sound of the door sliding open caught their attention, and they both turned to see who was coming in. "Catty! Over here!" Erica called to the new arrival. "Grab a glass and join us."

Catty followed the suggestion and sat down beside Erica, who poured a measure from the bottle she had beside her. Catty took a quick taste, and her eyes widened. "Is this what I think it is?" she asked. "I thought you were saving it for a special occasion."

"But this IS a special occasion," Erica pointed out. "Our guest has come back to life!"

Catty looked at Eluza, who simply smiled and nodded. "Well," she said with a grin, "that does call for a celebration." Raising her glass in front of her, she toasted "To new beginnings" as the other two returned her salute and emptied their glasses in one gulp.

"Wow, Catty," Erica remarked as she refilled all three glasses, "I don't think I've ever seen you drink before."

Catty swung her glass in a circular motion, making the liquid appear to 'climb' up the side. "Well, I was built to behave like a Solnoid, after all," she explained. "I wouldn't have been able to just be an observer, because that would arouse suspicions – I had to be able to interact as well. I can do everything that an organic person does... eat, drink, sweat, even sleep. But I don't use most of what I take in, except to replenish my fluid reserves, and I don't metabolize it at all." She gave Eluza a devilish grin and said, "I could drink you under the table and not be affected in the slightest."

"Are you suggesting that I can't hold my liquor, robot-girl?" Eluza replied as she returned Cattys' mischievous look with one of her own. "That sounds like a challenge to me."

Erica put a hand over her mouth as she yawned softly. "Well," she said, "as much as I'd like to see you two try to drink each other senseless, I'm going to call it a night. I've got some comet-tracking data to analyze, and I don't want to do it with a hangover." She stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll see you both later," she said with a wave, "assuming that Catty isn't having you treated for alcohol poisoning, that is."

Once the door closed, Catty gave Eluza a sly grin. "So, are you ready to be humiliated?" she accused.

"Actually," Eluza put up a hand to stop her from becoming too enthusiastic, "I wanted to talk to you about something else, if you don't mind. I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable wearing my uniform, and don't know what I should do. Would you help me with this?"

Catty couldn't help but beam with joy. She knew that the biggest hurdle in starting a new life was letting go of the old one – for Eluza to be willing to take that step so quickly was an important sign. "Of course I will. We can go to your quarters and use the fabricator there... we won't be disturbed, so you can take your time deciding what suits your taste. Come with me and we'll get started."

 _Her attitude is infectious_ , Eluza thought as her own smile grew, _I think I could get used to this._ "One question before we go," she said, "can these fabricators do fine metal-work as well?"

"You mean – like jewellery?" The question puzzled Catty. "Sure they can. Why do you ask?" In reply, Eluza just showed her the message crystal she carried. Her eyes narrowed in puzzlement for a moment before she realized what Eluza was trying to tell her.

"I understand. Let's go..."


	7. Reconnnection

**Reconnection**

Catty and Eluza had so much fun going through and trying on the variety of clothing available that they both lost track of how much time they spent. By the time they decided to stop, Catty had created a space in the ships' memory system with a list of favourites that Eluza could draw from whenever the mood struck her. Satisfied with what they had done, and explaining that she had to go and assume her 'Night-Watch' duties, Catty made a polite exit while Eluza settled in to sleep.

* * *

 _She walked along the darkened corridor, gun in one hand and hand-light in the other. Her eyes moving left, right, up, down, not stopping in their search for the intruder. She came upon a closed hatchway – with the bulkhead shielding her body, she touched the locking controls. The door slid open and she jumped into the gap, the light illuminating her target._

 _She saw a girl with long orange hair engulfed by the awful green blob, her cries producing nothing more than bubbles within the gelatinous mass. She watched as the monster shot what appeared to be beams of red light into her stomach. The girl curled up in agony as she was ejected from the mass and deposited onto the deck, a film of green slime still covering her body. The monster took the form of a two-legged creature long enough to bellow an ear-splitting victory cry before jumping into a nearby ventilation shaft._

 _The orange-haired girl stirred and lifted her head to look weakly in her direction. "You didn't save us, Eluza," the girl moaned, "why couldn't you save us?" The lights suddenly brightened and she saw three other slime-covered victims. Her eyes widened and she took a step backwards as the four stood up slowly._

" _Save us," they all moaned in unison, "save us..."_

 _Taking another step backwards, she finally found her voice. "Rabby, Patty, Pony, Rumy, I'm sorry." She dropped her weapon as she turned to flee, but the corridor was now blocked. She hammered at the wall with her fists, frantic to get away._

 _A brown tentacle shot out from the darkness behind her four former shipmates, wrapping itself around her ankle and pulling her off her feet. She fell to the floor, clawing desperately at the deckplates as she struggled to free herself from the monsters' grasp. It pulled her into the darkness, and she screamed in terror as she was engulfed._

" _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..."_

* * *

"NO!" Eluza cried as she awoke with a jump. Her heart racing, she gasped for breath as she sat up in her bed, pushing off her sweat-damp sheets and pulling her legs up so that she could rest her chin on her knees. "Just a dream," she muttered quietly, "it was just a dream."

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore, Eluza wrapped herself in a white robe and stepped out into the corridor. She decided that this would be a good time to start learning the layout of the ship, so she began to methodically walk along every corridor - committing to memory every room, junction, and cross-passage as she continued to marvel at how such a large ship could be supported by only three people.

As she continued her stroll, she began to hear a faint thumping sound echoing through the corridors. Still unnerved by her nightmare, but unable to contain her curiosity, she cautiously made her way closer to the source of the noise. Before long she found herself staring at the doorway where the noise was loudest. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she stepped forward and the door slid open.

The room she found herself in was not very large, but a transparent barrier separated it from a far larger room in which she saw Derek. He was running from one side of the room to the other, waving his arms in what she first assumed was a balancing motion... but quickly realized that his movements closely matched the noises that she had been searching for. She kept watching, and soon became aware of a small object that he seemed to be defending himself against – it would leap towards him with blurring speed, he would strike it with his hand as it approached. The object would be driven away, only to strike the wall and renew its' attack. The longer she watched, the less she understood what was going on.

Derek remained oblivious to his audience until he stumbled and fell, skidding to a stop against the wall. He remained on his back for a moment, arms stretched wide, until he heard a light tapping nearby. Tilting his head to the side, he smiled and lifted himself to his feet when he saw who it was. He touched a spot on the clear wall and stepped through the opening that formed when he did. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully before noticing the weary look on her face. "Or not. Are you okay?"

Eluza looked at her feet before answering. "I'm all right. I just had a bad dream."

"Anything I can do to help?" he asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine. I think it may have been a little too early for me to start drinking again, that's all." She saw the skeptical look on his face and decided to try changing the subject. "So, what exactly were you doing in there? Was that some kind of combat exercise?"

Derek couldn't help but grin as he shook his head. "Actually, it's called Hyper-Fives. It's a variation on an ancient game that's played for fun or exercise. It's good for working on your hand-to-eye coordination, and it's an effective way to relieve stress. I can show you how to play, if you'd like to give it a try."

Eluza thought for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. "Why not?" she commented, "What do I need to do?"

"First thing is to change into some exercise clothing," Derek stated. "There's a change-room with a fabricator across the corridor – this isn't something you want to do in a sleep-robe," he teased.

"Nooo – you think?" Eluza replied, mimicking his sarcastic tone. "I'll be right back," she noted as she stepped through the door. She returned a few minutes later wearing a black two-piece workout suit that seemed to be painted on and which left her midriff exposed.

Derek tried to swallow his tongue when he saw her walk in. "O-okay," he stammered, "the r-rules are pretty simple. I'll hit this ball," holding up the object he had picked up from where it lay on the floor, "towards the far wall. You hit it back towards the wall and I'll do the same. The ball can hit any of the three walls, but it can only hit the floor once before you return it. If it hits the floor more than once, that's a point for the person who hit it last."

"Sounds simple enough," Eluza noted.

"We'll start slow so you can get comfortable with it. Here we go..." Derek bounced the ball on the deck and slapped it towards the wall. It struck the wall and rebounded back towards Eluza, who hit it as it bounced off the floor. The volleys steadily increased in power and speed, until Derek missed the ball as it dropped for its' second bounce.

Eluza gave him a quick wink. "I thought you were supposed to be teaching ME," she said with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah," Derek retorted, "If you must know, I was doing this for thirty minutes before you came." He picked up the ball and tossed it to her. "Your turn to serve."

Eluza copied Derek as she dropped the ball in front of her and shot it towards the far wall. It rebounded and sped towards Derek, who returned it easily. Eluza began to feel more confident in her ability to handle the game, so she attempted increasingly elaborate shots. Derek picked up on this and started to do the same, becoming so focused on the ball that he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings. Forgetting that he was not playing alone, he rushed to reach the ball and collided with Eluza. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself lying on the floor with Derek on top of her – his eyes so close that she couldn't see anything else... and she felt the oddest pressure on her lips.

Dereks' eyes opened, then grew wide as he realized the situation he found himself in. He pushed himself up and rolled off Eluza as she stared at him. "I... I... I'm sorry," he blurted nervously as he backed up towards the exit. "It was... I didn't mean to... Oh, would you look at the time! I'm late for... ummm... maintenance! Yeah, that's it – I have to get to engineering!"

"Derek," Eluza said as she pushed herself up, "what...?"

"Igottagonicegameseeyoulaterbye!" Derek muttered as he jumped through the door, leaving Eluza sitting on the floor with a confused look on her face.

 _What just happened...?_

* * *

 ** _Authors' Note: I don't exactly know where I'm going to be going with this - it's the first time I've done an open-ended story with no clear ending in mind._**

 ** _Reviews would be helpful in encouraging me to continue..._**


	8. Reconciliation

**Reconciliation**

"I just don't understand what it was that upset him that badly," Eluza confessed as she gazed out the window at the stars. She had just finished recounting the events in the exercise room, and now waited for a response.

Catty looked at her and took a sip of her water. "I can see that, but why come to me for advice?" she asked. "After all – it's not like I have any experience with that sort of thing. Maybe you should be asking Erica instead?"

"Because you've been a part of both my society and hers," Eluza explained. "You can put things into perspective for me better than she could. Please, Catty – is there anything you know that can help me figure this out? Anything at all?"

Catty laced her fingers together and rested her chin on her knuckles as she considered the problem. "You do know," she said after a few moments' thought, "that the kiss – the touching of lips – was viewed as a gesture of affection among the Solnoid people, yes?" She waited for Eluza to nod in agreement before continuing. "Well, it's the same here. But for the Solnarians, that affection MUST be mutual before it can be acted upon. One of the key tenets of their culture is that they do not impose their will upon anyone – and while a Solnoid might think of that as a weakling attitude, it's one that has kept their civilization together for ten times as long as ours existed. I'll admit that Derek may have gone to a rather odd extreme in this instance... but if he's fond of you, then it's likely that he didn't want to risk offending you by appearing to take advantage of the situation."

" _Derek is a hopeless romantic_ ," Eluza recalled Erica telling her, " _as well as being painfully shy._ " She was just starting to get a hint of exactly how shy he is. "That does make sense," she said aloud, "so what would you suggest I do to let him know that I'm okay with what happened?"

"That would depend upon whether or not you share his feelings," Catty told her. "If you don't, then talking to him about it would be a good place to start. Acknowledge his affection, but admit that you don't feel the same. It will hurt him, of course, but he is actually quite resilient in that regard – he'll be able to move on quickly, as long as you're honest with him."

"And... if I think that I DO share them?" Eluza suggested.

Catty gave a slight smile at this unexpected turn. "Then take the initiative," she replied. "Use the aggressive nature that's part of your Solnoid upbringing for constructive purposes. Make your intentions clear, either way, and he'll thank you for it."

Eluza closed her eyes and thought about what she had just been told. When she came to her decision, she opened her eyes and stood up with a smile on her face. "Thanks, Catty – I really appreciate you helping me out like this. Now... if you'll excuse me, I want to take a little walk around the ship."

"Of course, any time," Catty called in reply as Eluza made her way to the door. "Glad I could help, and good luck."

* * *

As Eluza wandered the corridors, she thought about what she had been experiencing over the course of the past few days. Every step brought her a different thought, but her mind kept coming back to several key memories.

" _Derek finds you attractive," Erica had implied..._

" _Do not let an opportunity for happiness pass you by," the recording of Catty Nebulart had implored..._

" _Don't be bound by your preconceptions of what is normal," Erica had offered..._

" _Take the initiative," Catty had suggested..._

She stopped walking when she saw that her wanderings had delivered her to the very place that had caused her confusion in the first place – the exercise room where Derek had inadvertently kissed her. She lifted her hand and ran her fingers lightly along her lips, closing her eyes as she remembered the sensation and the feelings it had stirred within her. She also remembered the panicked apology that Derek had offered when he saw the position he was in. Making her decision, she looked around and saw that there was a computer-access terminal set into the wall before her. _"The computer knows where we are at all times,"_ Derek had explained to her, _"If you want to talk, just ask it where I am."_ So she walked up to the panel and asked...

She followed the directions the machine had given her to a room that she presumed was in the engineering section of the ship. A door to her left began to glow, which she supposed was a sign that this was her destination. She neared the door and it slid open as she turned to face it – and she stepped into an immense room that contained many large and unfamiliar machines. As she made her way deeper into the space, she looked around and tried to locate Derek within the confusing array of objects. She finally noticed one that had an open panel at the floor, a pair of legs sticking out of it.

Trying to contain her enthusiasm, Eluza quietly closed the gap between herself and her target...

" _Take the initiative..."_

* * *

Derek let his arms rest on the deck above his head as he let out a heavy sigh. Even though he knew that he had a task to complete, he found himself distracted. His thoughts kept returning to the latest conversation he had with his sister.

" _She must hate me now..." he had confessed as he sat in the control room, staring dejectedly at his feet._

" _Derek, you tripped," Erica tried to reassure him, "it wasn't intentional."_

" _You know that, and I know it, but how can you say that SHE knows it?" He paused to take a breath and gaze out at the red star in the main window. "What if she thinks I was trying to take advantage of her? What if...?"_

" _Derek, STOP IT!" The sharpness in her voice startled him into silence. "Eluza is an intelligent person. I'm sure she realizes that you didn't mean any harm. After all – you did apologize to her about it, didn't you?"_

" _Yeah, I did, but..."_

" _'But' nothing! You're letting yourself get all worked up over something that she's probably already forgotten about. Look at me." Derek turned to face his sister as she softened her tone. "Don't let this get to you. It was an innocent mistake. I know she hasn't been with us for very long, but I'm certain that she recognizes an accident when it happens." She smiled and gently touched his arm. "Listen... if you want, I can talk to her and make sure she understands."_

 _Derek patted her hand and returned her smile. "Thanks, but I think this is something I should do myself. I have some work to do on one of the generator assemblies, but I'll find and talk to her when I'm done."_

 _Erica teased him by messing up his hair like he was her favourite pet. "Good boy," she said, "now get out of here. We both have work to do, so we'd better get to it."_

Derek decided that he was going to find Eluza the moment he was done with this particular task, but he was still uncertain. _What do I say to her?_ \- he thought – _What can I do to..._

"HEY!" His thoughts were interrupted when he found himself being pulled out of the pod by his ankles. Temporarily disoriented by the brighter light of his new surroundings, he felt a weight being dropped on his legs as his arms were pinned above his head. "Erica!" he shouted as he tried to squirm out of his confinement, "This is no time for games!" He blinked twice as his eyes adjusted, then they blinked again in surprise. "E-Eluza?" he stammered, his face growing slightly warmer as he discovered that she was straddling his hips and holding his arms down at his elbows, looking down at him with a grin on her face. "Wh-wh-what are you d-doing?"

Her grin widened as she lowered herself so that her face was right above his. "I'm accepting your apology," she whispered as she closed her eyes and leaned in closer...

Derek's eyes widened as her lips touched his. The first kiss was light, almost hesitant, but deepened as Eluza became more accustomed to the sensations. She released one of his arms to place her hand on his cheek, Derek responded by closing his eyes and lifting his free arm to wrap around her waist.

Their lips parted as Eluza lifted her body to stare down at Derek, whose expression told her that he was fighting a battle between pure joy and utter disbelief. "Does... does this mean what I think it means?" he asked when he finally managed to regain his voice.

Eluza smiled down at him. "It does," she said. "I have to admit that it frightens me a little bit, but I'm willing to give it a try. It may take me a little while to get used to the idea, though..."

"Not a problem," Derek assured her, "I can go slow until you're comfortable with it." He smiled up at her as he took her hands into his. "Thank you."

"I do have one condition, though," she warned him.

"Oh?" he replied, curious, "and that would be...?"

"No poetry."

Derek opened both his eyes and his mouth so wide that Eluza could not help but laugh at his appearance. Then he let go of one of her hands to place his over his face.

"Ericaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."


	9. Rejuvenation

**Rejuvenation**

Looking down at Derek, in his slightly confused and highly embarrassed state, Eluza found that she couldn't help but snicker as she fought the urge to break out in full-blown laughter.

Derek looked up at her and lifted an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" he questioned.

"Nothing, nothing," Eluza said as she got herself under control. Deciding that it was time to change the subject, she lifted her head and looked around. "So – what part of the ship is this, and what were you doing in there?" she asked him as she stood up and offered Derek her hand.

"Hup! Thanks," Derek said as she pulled him to his feet. "This is one section of our Engine Core, and I was making an adjustment to one of the VFGs."

"VFG?" she asked as her own eyebrow lifted.

"Right, sorry," Derek apologized as he rubbed the back of his neck. "That's short for Vacuum-Flux Generator – they supply power for the ships' systems." He patted the cover of the device he had been inside. "I've been making adjustments to see if I can get a little more efficiency out of this one."

"So – it's like a Repression Furnace? Seems awfully small to be powering a ship this size," Eluza commented as she walked around the object.

"Repression...? Oh, no," he stopped himself as he realized what she was referring to. "We abandoned those millenia ago. A VFG is more compact, more efficient, and far safer than those ancient things. We..." he stopped as he noticed the dejected look on Eluza's face. "I'm sorry – I didn't mean to..."

"It's all right," Eluza reassured him. "You only made me aware of just how much catching-up I have to do. Your people are so much more advanced than my own were, and it's a bit overwhelming. I wouldn't know where to even start."

"Wherever you want to start," Derek told her with a smile. "There's no time limit on learning new things – and no direction, either. Every new thing you learn will take you in a different and exciting direction, and there's always something else to find out. That's why Erica and I are studying this star system – trinaries have such amazing properties, and every single one of them has their own unique variations. We could literally spend centuries right here, and not even scratch the surface of what knowledge we could gain. We even took the Personality out of our ship, so that we could free up the memory and store more data! It's..." He paused a moment to look at her. "I'm rambling, aren't I? I get that way sometimes."

This made Eluza smile. "That's okay – it's actually rather refreshing to see someone be so enthusiastic about something other than fighting. My people lost that during the War, and I think that it'll be good to try and get it back. That still leaves the question, though, of where I should start."

"This shift is almost over," Derek pointed out. "Why don't we meet up with Erica and Catty in the Lounge? We can brainstorm some ideas on what you would like to do, and get you set up with what you need to get started. Let me just close up this panel and put my tools away, and we can get going."

Eluza looked at the scattering of tools and parts on the floor.

"Can I help...?"

* * *

As they walked down the corridor towards the Lounge, Derek tried to restart the conversation that Eluza had started. "You know," he offered, "I was a little surprised when you dropped your full weight on me like that."

Eluza turned and gave him a stern look. "Are you implying that I'm FAT?" she shot back at him.

Derek felt the blood drain from his face as he realized what he said. "NO! No, I didn't mean it like that! You're beautiful! I just... what I meant was..." he stammered as he struggled to find the right words.

Eluza laughed out loud and slapped his shoulder hard enough to cause him to stumble for a moment. "Relax, Derek, I'm kidding," she said as he recovered, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. "I know you're trying to make me feel comfortable, but you don't have to try that hard. Just be yourself, and stop worrying so much – okay?"

"Yeah, I can do that," he said. "Sorry – I get carried away sometimes."

"I see that," Eluza said with a laugh as she slid her hand down his arm to hook his elbow, causing Derek's cheeks to burn.

They walked together in silence for a few minutes, eventually reaching the door to the ship's Lounge. The door slid open, and they saw Catty and Erica look up from their drinks and turn to greet them.

"Well, just LOOK at you two," she gleefully stated as the grin on her face got wider, "Didn't take you long to get cozy, did it?"

Eluza's eyes widened in surprise as she released her hold on Derek's arm while Derek shot his sister a playful glare. "NOT funny, sis!"

"Sure it is," Erica said as she snickered at the pair, "you just don't see it. Come on, sit down and have a drink with us. We can get started on your sense of humour later."

"Actually," Eluza stepped forward to interrupt the teasing, "I was hoping that you'd be able to help me familiarize myself with ship operations. I feel like I'm just taking up space here, and I want to make myself useful." She shifted her gaze to each of the three in turn, trying to not reveal her anxiety. "I don't exactly know what I can do, but I want to help."

Derek looked first at Catty, then at Erica, before turning back to Eluza. "You do understand that you don't have to do that, right?" he explained to her. "We're not going to kick you off the ship or anything like that, just because you're not helping out. You're our guest, after all, and guests shouldn't feel obliged to assist their hosts."

"It's not that," Eluza admitted. "But I want to be a member of your society, and that means figuring out what kind of contribution I can make. The sooner I can do that, the better off I'll be. I don't want to have to depend on your hospitality for the rest of my life."

Erica nodded her head in agreement. "That makes sense," she said. "Did you have anything specific in mind, or would you rather do a little bit of everything to see what suits your fancy?"

"I'm guessing that combat tactics and strategy aren't something that you'd be needing anytime soon?" Eluza posed the obvious question, and three head-shakes confirmed her suspicion. "Then I guess it'll have to be a little of everything, then, and narrow things down from there."

"All right then," Erica said as she swallowed the remaining contents of her glass, "It'll take a couple of days to work up a schedule that gets you exposed to everything that we do. For the time being, though, you can tag along with Derek and give him a hand."

"I can set you up with introductory courses for anything you want," Catty offered, "The computer archives offer a wide variety of possibilities for you to check out."

"Thanks to you both," Eluza said with a smile of gratitude. She turned to Derek and asked "So... what are we going to be doing tomorrow?"

"Trick question..." Erica whispered to Catty with a snicker.

"There's some maintenance we need to do in the Garden Dome," Derek suggested. "We can start there first thing in the morning."

"Sounds good to me," Eluza said with a nod. "So I think I'll go get some rest now, so I'll be ready to go in the morning. I'll see you all later."

As she turned to make her exit, Derek stepped up beside her. "Can I walk with you?" he asked, causing both Erica and Catty to smile.

"Sure."

* * *

A short walk later, and the two found themselves standing at the door to Eluza's quarters.

"So," Eluza asked, "where and when should I meet you to start work? I don't exactly know where the Garden Dome is." She conveniently ignored the fact that the computer could easily direct her.

"How about I meet you here, at hour eight hundred?" Derek suggested. "I can show you how to get there, and where all the tools are."

"Eight hundred tomorrow, then. I look forward to it."

"Well... goodnight then," Derek said. As he turned to leave, Eluza stopped him by placing her hand on his shoulder. He turned back to see her smiling at him. Still smiling, she moved closer and slid her hand to the back of his neck. His eyes widened as she pressed her lips against his cheek.

"Good night." she whispered in his ear before backing into her quarters and closing the door.

He walked back to his own quarters with a smile on his lips and redness on his cheeks.


End file.
